Fwd: Ubuntu Laptop...

[David Whyte]

Hi Mike,

I was just writing an email to the Ubuntu list to apologise for
blaming Ubuntu for my sound issues and then I realised that I only
actually replied to you in the first instance.  Sorry about that :)  I
have infact replied this time to the list as I do have a couple of
positive remarks to make further down the email.

Anyways, it turns out that there were some jumpers missing from the
mainboard.  The manual and everything on the board indicated that the
jumpers were for a 'Front Panel Audio', however, they also seem to
control the rear audio.

After arguing with the shop keeper today, I got him to test it and get
it working, however, he only got it working in one channel (he didn't
tell me that before he handed my board back).  Through some research
and determination, it turns out that the diagram in the manual (the
one that is supposed to be for the front audio, but infact is for the
rear audio also) was also wrong, and the shop keeper had put the
jumpers in the wrong place.

After two weeks of pain, I now have some brilliant sound pumping from
my Ubuntu (Dapper) box.

During the pain I experienced last week though, I found an online shop
that sells the same mobo in a complete PC package with OpenSUSE 10.1
pre-installed so I had a go with an OpenSUSE 10.1 live DVD to test my
sound.  Boy, while the initial OpenSUSE installer screen looks quite
swish, the live DVD product leaves a lot to be desired in comparison
to Ubuntu.

Furthermore, I installed Windows on a spare HDD in one last ditch
effort to ascertain what the problem was with the mobo.  Gosh, the
installer for Windows XP is terrible, compared to that which I
encountered when I first installed my PC back in the days of Breezy,
and the live CD installer of recent Ubuntu revisions is a fantastic
idea.  Props to Ubuntu for their shiny appearance.

That is all :)

Regards,
Dave

On 1/8/07, David Whyte <david.whyte at gmail.com> wrote:
> On 1/8/07, Michael Nelson <michael at liveandletlearn.net> wrote:
> > Great idea!! I think if it did have problems I'd be keen to do a bit of
> > fiddling to get it working anyway -  good challenge ;)  /me thinks fondly
> > back to the days of linmodem drivers
> >
>
> Just be completely honest.  When I was buying a laptop, I told the
> store that I wanted to run Linux on it and that I would only buy if I
> could try one of the demo models with a live CD first.  I told them
> what it was and that there would be no after effects once I do a
> reboot.  The Retravision guy was totally OK with the idea, but that
> didn't mean I actually bought the laptop from him ;)
>
>
> On 1/8/07, Rev Simon Rumble <simon at rumble.net> wrote:
> >
> > /me thinks not-so-fondly back to the days of wasting lots of time
> > keeping dodgy hardware going through upgrades...  The new world is
> > definitely an improvement!
>
> Funny that we mention the 'new world'.  I can't get the sound to work
> on my new Asus motherboard (P5PE-VM with Intel ICH5 chipset???) and I
> am told I have to compile the alsa kernel drivers myself.  This sounds
> very scary and I have to admit I am a little dissapointed.  I feel a
> little let down too after flying the Ubuntu flag for so long to all my
> peers.  Anyways, this conversation is for another thread!
>
> Cheers,
> Whytey
>